Factual Information.

Brazil is by far, the largest and most populated  country in the whole of South America with over 190 million. Many of which speak Portuguese due to three centuries under the rule of Portugal. It became an independant state in 1822 and is the leading economic power of agricutural growth and development due to it's high level of natural resources. However, low wage structures and bad distribution remains a problem for the country creating a telling divide between the rich and the poorer people of Brazil.

Tourist Attractions

Brazil is one of the most famous travel and vacation hotspots with it's large carnival festival in the Summer, beautiful city of Rio De Janeiro, Iguassu Falls and the Amazon Rainforest. As the temperature rarely falls below 20 celcius, Brazil also has a hot climate and contains a huge history behind most of it's architecture and beauty.

I spent two weeks in Brazil just recently towards the end of August which is their winter season so I was unable to see the carnival in action. The weather stayed hot most of the time but there was also alot of rainfall. I spent a fair bit of time in Bahia where I booked the hotel but I also managed to visit Rio which was a two hour flight away.

Rio De Janiero is a beautiful city and I stayed there two days along the coast of Cococabana Beach. Rio is not only famous for this beach though of course. A few miles down the road was the Sugar Loaf Mountain and just opposite was the 'Christ Redemer' statue. Unfortunately, I visited this statue on the second day when it was very misty so it was hard to see the statue in full view. Brazilians are also very passionate about their football as they are about their religion (over two thirds of the country are Roman Catholic) so I couldn't go without seeing a match at the Maracana Stadium with 'Flamengo' playing 'Sport'. In what little time I had there, I managed to get in a visit to the Favelas, being the more poorer side of Rio, to educate myself on how the people there lived. It was a wonderful experience to put yourself in and the people were always very friendly including our guide who lived there! Many of the people who lived there would often wave to you despite any cultural differences to add to the fact they have never met you before.

Back in Bahia, I spent some time around the area and took a few excursions when I wasn't at the hotel. Education in Brazil is very hard to come by for children after the age of twelve and those that ever did experience school were from privileged families. It was an honor to experience what education there was like. We spent over ten minutes there writing english sentences on the board and the children would read it out aloud to the class and write the translation on the board in Portuguese. They all seemed so happy and content with many of the hotel guests being there. We also walked around a farming community and had half hour down a river in a canoe. I was unable to hitch a ride to the Amazon Rainforest due to it's extreme distance away but visited many protected forests around Bahia itself and watched the trees and the life of the forest move around by day. Meeting a sloth was a great experience as they can be rarely seen anywhere near the ground at any point in the day. Usually they come down about once a week or two if they wish to change tree! Among other things, I visited a 16th century castle, went quad biking for the day and visited another football match but then I did say... Brazilians love their football!

To see all my photos from my trip to Brazil, go to the photo module above this blog and scroll down the list of albums to 'My Pictures Of Brazil,2007'

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